The best-selling author’s newest thriller Private Vegas hits stores on January 26th, but before that, Patterson and agency Mother are giving fans the chance to get an early look, with a catch. The first copy will cost $294,038, but it comes with a private trip to an undisclosed luxury location, a five-course dinner with Patterson, and a SWAT team for book handling. Leave it to the world’s best-selling writer to make his own thriller into the thrill.

Another 1,000 people in the U.S. will get early access on January 21 to an alternative, free app version, but have only 24 hours to finish it before it disappears in what Mother calls “a cinematic and spectacular way.” If you’re not one of the first 1,000 readers, you can still follow their progress in real-time and have the ability to “steal” time from those readers through a new site, SelfDestructingBook.com. Designed to
bring the thrill of Patterson’s book to new heights, the site shows who and where in the world the book’s early readers are, how far along through the book they’ve read and gives you the option to sabotage their efforts by cutting their 24 hours short. “I’ve been in the business of thrilling people for almost 40 years,” said Patterson in a statement. “So much has changed and I want to make sure I keep my readers on the edge of their seats. Faced with imminent destruction, the act of reading against a clock allows fans to become a character in their own thriller.”

Nothing says “relaxed reading time” quite like a horde of web lurkers trying to steal your book before you can finish it or, in the case of whoever buys the luxury experience, the imminent threat of an explosion.

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About the author

Jeff Beer is a staff editor at Fast Company, covering advertising, marketing, and brand creativity. He lives in Toronto.